heres issue 2
The last known location of Steve Rogers was in Paris. That was the first place Martian Manhunter flew once he had caught sight of the European continent.
He flew over Paris, invisible so not to cause a commotion. He was also scanning the thoughts of several people, trying to ascertain the location of the man once known as Captain America.
Finally, he saw a man with blond hair sitting outside a café in downtown Paris. J'Onn knew it was Steve, because even in his secret identity, Steve Rogers still showed the stiff military demeanor of Captain America. Also, he was not dressed as fashionably as all the Frenchmen and Frenchwomen around him. J'Onn flew down, shifted into his John Jones guise once more, and became visible.
He walked over to the table that Steve Rogers was sitting at, reading a newspaper.
"Excuse me," John said, "is this seat taken?"
Steve looked up. "Do I know you?"
"You should."
Steve was perplexed. "No, I can't recall you."
John looked around, saw that nobody was watching, and quickly shifted his face into his usual mode before shifting back just as quickly.
"J'Onn!" Steve exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. Please sit down."
"Thank you," John said, taking his seat. "And don't worry. It's been a while."
"Yes, it has," Steve replied. "Too long. What are you here for?"
"Steve, the government has given the go-ahead for the reformation of the Avengers League. I've already gathered six other members besides myself, but we need a leader."
"Me," Steve said.
John nodded.
"Of course, I'd love to."
John was surprised, to say the least. He had expected that Cap would need a lot of convincing. It was clear he didn't.
"Really?" John asked.
"Yeah. I've wandered across Europe for too long. Something's been missing since that day the League broke up. Now I have found it."
John handed him an Avengers League signal device. "Here," he said. "You'll need this. Are you able to come back now?"
Steve nodded. "I just have to get a few things from my hotel. You going straight to the Hall of Justice?"
John nodded. "I figured that we should get things in order there before we call the rest."
"So, who is on the team this time?" Steve asked.
John created a mental image on the table. It featured the six other Avengers.
"Well, you know Wasp, Batman, and Iron Man. The other three are relatively new. Wonder Woman - "
"I worked with her in the JSA . . . "
"This isn't the same one. It's her daughter. Anyway, the other two are Flash - "
"Not Jay Garrick?"
John nodded. "I'm not sure who he is. The last member is Quasar."
"That's one I'm not familiar with."
"That's why we must return," John said, shutting the mental image off.
Steve stood up. "Let's go," he said.
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Both heroes, still in their secret identities, boarded the Concorde to return to the United States. Steve had not traveled in this much style since . . . since he could not remember.
"You have some connections you're not telling me about, J'Onn."
"You're the only human who can figure me out, Steve. Yes, this reforming of the group is no accident. We have someone to meet up with when we get to Washington."
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The two heroes stood in their uniforms in the office of Henry Peter Gyrich. Captain America had had only brief contacts with him over the years. It was slightly dark in the office, as if things transpired here that should not see the light of day.
Even though Cap was the living symbol of America, he didn't trust everyone in the government. Bureaucrats like Gyrich gave Captain America the creeps. Oftentimes, he thought, they worked for their own good rather than the good of their country.
"Captain America," Gyrich said with a hint of snideness that he could never truly erase from his voice, "it's a pleasure to see you in action again."
"A pleasure to serve my country again, Mr. Gyrich."
"You know, we're putting a lot of funding behind the Avengers League, Captain America. We're even building you a new headquarters on the moon, to protect against interstellar threats." Gyrich commented.
We see the Avengers League as not being only the Earth's defense against supervillains, but against the ongoing mutant menace."
Captain America had heard of mutants, but not enough to consider them a menace. He had tackled a group called the Mutant Force once, but that was a long time ago. Cap resolved to find out more about the mutants, before he would develop the kind of hatred Gyrich seemed to have toward them.
Captain America changed the subject. "Well, we won't disappoint you in protecting against those threats, Mr. Gyrich," he said cheerily.
"I know you won't," Gyrich retorted with more menace than he intended. "We'll be hosting a press conference for you this Tuesday to announce the regrouping of the Avengers League. I don't need to ask you to do your country proud."
The courtyard of the Hall of Justice was filled with every newsperson in New York City. The reforming of the Avengers League was the biggest news event since the CleanJet Crash.* Newspeople bumped into each other for the chance of getting a sound bite from the Avengers League, and cameramen stood on tiptoe to get the best shot of the newly reformed supergroup.
Countless flashbulbs went off as Captain America gave a speech about the new team, introducing each member in turn. The press adored the energetic Flash, the beautiful Wonder Woman, and the handsome young blond Quasar. They were happy to see the return of previous members Iron Man and the Martian Manhunter. The Wasp posed coyly at any camera that would point at her. Batman kept to the shadows and the press asked themselves if this was really the mysterious hero who had been waging such a war on crime in the borough of Gotham.
The press had many questions about the new members, the reasons why the Avengers League broke up, their sponsorship, and the status of villains that were at large that were former foes. Captain America did his best to handle all the questions - he was the leader, after all.
The press conference eventually ended, and dissolved into individual interviews between the new members and the press. Each member had been briefed by Captain America, Martian Manhunter, and Gyrich on what to say and what not to say to the ever-inquisitive media.
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A little later, Quasar was eating one of the cold cut sandwiches prepared for the newspeople. His eyes were following one particularly attractive newswoman when he noticed one figure walk away from the others and head into the more secure areas of the building.
He followed the man on foot, and closer examination revealed that it was a visually impaired newsperson, carrying a Palm-Pilot-like pad upon which he was making Braille notes.
Quasar followed him for a bit longer, then flew up and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me sir. You're heading into a restricted area."
"I'm sorry," the man responded. "Usually I always know where I'm going. This new headquarters of yours takes some getting used to before I would have my bearings."
"I really admire that someone like you would be in the news business. I mean, it's so visual, and all." Quasar was talking like the twenty-three-year-old he was, all ideals and opinions. "I really admire blind people . . . "
"Really?" said the old man. "Well, I'll tell that . . . to a blind person!"
He ripped off his disguise to reveal the costume of Prometheus. Before Quasar could react, Prometheus laid out the hero with an uppercut, then injected a sleep poison into his arm.
"Too easy," he said, as he grabbed Quasar's Avengers League ID and headed toward the secure areas of the Hall of Justice.
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Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Flash were walking down the hallway to one of the recreation rooms after having talked to a legion of reporters. Except for the Flash, who thought about ten times faster than the others, the Leaguers were mentally drained.
"I need to sit down and read a good detective novel . . . " J'Onn J'Onzz muttered. " . . . maybe I can finish that Agatha Christie one I just started.."
"Are you sure there's no alerts in the monitor room?" the Flash asked, literally running circles around the other two heroes. "No danger?"
"Oh yes, boy," Prometheus said. "Here's some danger for you right here."
The Leaguers were surprised. "Who are you?" Wonder Woman asked. "And what are you doing this far into our headquarters?"
"A question you might ask yourselves," he replied.
He sprang into action with almost inhuman agility. Before the Flash could launch himself forward, Prometheus shot him in the arm with a highly potent tranquilizer, then with a portable Darkforce generator that latched itself onto Flash's shoulder. When Flash eventually woke up, he would attempt to run, only to send himself headlong into a Darkforce field.
Wonder Woman moved with a speed faster than Prometheus had anticipated and grabbed his cape. As the force of gravity swung the villain toward the Amazon, he pulled a brainwave-scrambler from his belt and attached it to her forehead. She let him go, and stood stock still, like a living statue of a goddess.
Martian Manhunter fired his eye beams at Prometheus, who dodged them as they burned a hole into the corridor wall. He pulled a portable flash grenade from his belt and threw it at J'Onn. When the grenade exploded, J'Onn was covered in flames. The sprinkler system in the Hall of Justice automatically activated, though, so the flames were beginning to subside.
Prometheus made his way toward the data center of the Hall of Justice, where he was planning to launch a computer-based onslaught that would tarnish the reputation of the Avengers League forever.
But he never reached the room. A shield flew out of nowhere and embedded itself into the wall near Prometheus' head.
"You will stop right there, young man," Captain America ordered. Iron Man was behind him, readying his repulsor rays.
"I get to fight you!" Prometheus shouted with glee to Captain America. "Oh, this is going to be like fighting George Washington . . . or Uncle Sam!"
"You just hush about Uncle Sam, young man."
Prometheus and Captain America began a fistfight the likes of which had not been seen since the glory days of professional boxing. The two were evenly matched fighters; Prometheus would come up with a new move, only to see it parried by the more experienced Captain America. It began to seem as if Prometheus was prolonging the fight, just to take the measure of his opponent. Iron Man could not get a repulsor shot in, since the combatants were so close together and were fighting so fiercely.
But then Prometheus cheated. He deliberately let Captain America land a punch on him as he briefly electrified his costume. The Captain went down, temporarily stunned.
Iron Man had a clear shot at Prometheus now. The villain prepared to throw a nasty epoxy-based solution that would gum up Iron Man's works, so to speak.
At that moment, what seemed to be a pesky insect swooped up under Prometheus' nose, and began pestering him.
"Get away, gnat!" he said, swatting at the insect.
But it was not just an insect. It was the Wasp, who grew into her full-sized form just as she socked Prometheus in the jaw. Iron Man managed to get the villain with a repulsor bolt, and Batman leapt in from the shadows to hog-tie the villain with his Bat-rope.
"Now, mister . . . " Batman began threateningly, " . . . let's have a discussion about why you're here, and who sent you . . . "
But they would never had that discussion, because Prometheus suddenly disappeared.
The Avengers League dusted themselves off, and regrouped. Martian Manhunter, who had recovered from the flame-based attack, carefully calmed Wonder Woman's mind as he removed the brainwave scrambler from her forehead. He then used his mental abilities to gently remove the Darkforce generator from Flash.
Captain America slowly came to. "He was good, whoever he was. And he showed us we need a little bit more combat training together. Where did he go?"
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Prometheus opened his portal to the Ghost Zone, and landed inside the Crooked House, his headquarters there. He did have escape artist abilities very similar to Batman's, so it took him only a few minutes to get out of his hog-tied position. He inspected the burn marks on his armor from Iron Man's blast.
Even though he had taken out four of the Avengers League members himself, they still won the battle, and he didn't want to know how Lex Luthor would feel about his failure. Prometheus was not accustomed to losing, and determined that he would study and record the Avengers League's powers and strategies more for next time. But he had to report to Lex Luthor.
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Moments later, there was a brief flash of light as Prometheus teleported into Lex Luthor's office.
"You're lucky I wasn't in a meeting with someone who doesn't know about my plans for the Avengers League," Luthor scolded.
"I have important news. I did not achieve . . . total success, Luthor."
Luthor brushed it off with a wave of his hand. "I know. I watched the entire battle through the digital video recorder we had placed on you."
"I'm not entirely displeased, though," Luthor said, walking out from behind his desk. He opened a box, and handed Prometheus one of his private stash of Cuban cigars. "You put them through their paces, Prometheus. I didn't really expect you to beat them, you know, and the fact that you took four out of seven very powerful heroes down speaks to your skills. Additionally, now we have an idea of their capabilities . . . and the limits to their powers."
Prometheus smiled confidently. "They got lucky, Luthor. I was recording their moves the whole time. Next time . . . "
"There will be a next time, and we will be more ready, Prometheus. Perhaps I will give you an unfair advantage, to tip the scales . . . "
The Avenegrs League issue 3 will see them fighting the Manhunters. O h and Im going to put up xmen .And this xmen will replace cyclops with superman!
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